GARDEN TOUR & PLANS FOR ‘THE SECRET GARDEN’

I haven’t shared much about our garden over at the blog yet as it’s still a work in progress. It also happens to be very much to my taste already, so we are not planning to do any major landscaping (just yet). We’ve potted a few plants and bought a swing for the kids. There is a lot of potential to do more of course, but luckily we already like the way it is. The last few weeks have been incredibly hot here in the UK. Temperatures rose above +40 degrees celsius last week which was way too much. Our grass and plants don’t look as healthy right now as they did in this post, but I know it won’t be long before we have rain again, so I am trying to enjoy every minute of it.

M A I N  G A R D E N  &  P A T I O

Our main garden is the garden that is part of the original plot. We don’t have many plans for it to be honest, other than maybe adding a few extra plants or a hanging chair. I love looking at the view from our kitchen by the way. I usually have the bi-folds open from our dining room all day which opens up the landscape to our leafy and woodland-style garden. I love watching the birds and squirrels. We’ve also seen foxes, hedge hawks, and of course neighborhood cats (which are much shyer here than in our old house). I’ve even spotted a squirrel entering the house once. Although I think he/she had a bigger fright than I did! All the trees block the neighboring houses so you feel like you living in the middle of nowhere, whereas in reality, we’re smack bang in the middle of the suburbs.

‘ T H E  S E C R E T  G A R D E N ‘

Garden number two is one of the reasons why we bought this house in the first place. And I feel very blessed with having all the extra space that came with it.  The previous owners had bought some land at the back five years ago which was not part of the original house. The original garden wasn’t that big (considering the size of the house). The paperwork for the second garden was a bit messy though. We have two separate deeds for the gardens. If you take the house into account, we have another deed for that, so the solicitors were pretty busy getting it all sorted ahead of the sale. But the second garden makes this house what it is. We call it ‘the secret garden’ as it’s tucked away and hidden at the back. I didn’t think I’d like a separate garden that I couldn’t fully see from the house but this is genius. All the kid’s clutter (swings, trampoline, etc) is hidden at the back and isn’t blocking my lovely view. Plus this size garden dilutes the (kid’s) noise. What’s not to love, right?

Going from a small garden to two gardens has been wonderful, but it has also been a lot more work (obviously). Although I love the woodland garden style, it is currently very overgrown and needs a lot of cutting back. We’ve had a few tree surgeons over this summer to quote for the job and it’s going to be a much bigger project than we thought. But we are going to wait until autumn/winter before cutting back any trees or hedges as it’s still birding season and you’re not supposed to interrupt them. I’d also like to enjoy the garden this summer. Because it’s so overgrown, they’ll have to cut back quite a lot and it will look a bit bare for a while (months to a year I’ve been told). But it absolutely needs doing and the trimming will rejuvenate the garden and encourage growth.

H Y D R A N G E A S

Hydrangeas are my favourite flower at the moment. I love how big and puffy they are. They are ideal for adding a bit of colour and structure to the garden. I wouldn’t mind having more blue ones though, which apparently are a bit trickier to grow. As you may know, I like to make my own flower arrangements from our garden flowers during the warmer months. I’ve found hot water extremely good for making fresh-cut hydrangeas last longer. I even covered the topic in my old blogpost here!

P L A N S  F O R  N E X T  Y E A R

Our plans for next year include trimming the big oak tree in the front and cutting back all the other trees and bushes. We are going to prune them gradually rather than going all out. I’d like a bit of greenery in the garden, so I am not willing to give the entire landscape a total chop. Reducing the trees in size will allow more light in and also help them grow better. We also need some definition and structure here and I can’t wait to see it when it’s all done. Of course we have some more exciting long-term plans (I’d love a Finnish sauna and a decking area in the second garden!) so sure to keep an eye out for future garden updates!